Snakes

by Seymour Simon

Many people see snakes as gross and slimy, but snakes are actually one of the most fascinating reptiles on the planet. They have beautifully patterned skin, flexible bodies, internal ears, and the ability to swallow prey larger than their own heads! Learn more about these misunderstood and interesting creatures in this updated edition from award-winning science writer Seymour Simon.  This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 6 to 8. It’s a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children. Seymour Simon knows how to explain science to kids and make it fun. He was a teacher for more than twenty years, has written more than 250 books, and has won multiple awards. This book includes an author's note, glossary, and index and supports the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Animals, Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Seymour Simon, whom the NY Times called "the dean of [children's science:] writers," is the author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books (many of which have been named Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association).

Seymour Simon uses his website, SeymourSimon.com, to provide free downloads of a wealth of materials for educators, homeschoolers and parents to use with his books, including 4-page Teacher Guides for all 26 of his Collins/Smithsonian photo essay books. The site provides multiple resources for kids writing book reports or wanting to explore the online Science Dictionary, and also features the Seymour Science blog highlighting current science news. Educators and families are encouraged to sign up to receive the monthly newsletter from SeymourSimon.com to stay abreast of the latest materials that Seymour Simon is introducing to enrich the reading experience.

He taught science and creative writing in elementary and secondary schools and was chair of the science department at a junior high school in the New York City public school system before leaving to become a full-time writer. "I haven't really given up teaching," he says, "and I suppose I never will, not as long as I keep writing and talking to kids around the country and the world."

Seymour Simon is also a creator and the author of a series of 3D books and a series of Glow-in-the-Dark Books for Scholastic Book Clubs, a series of leveled SEEMORE READERS for Chronicle Books, and the EINSTEIN ANDERSON, SCIENCE DETECTIVE series of fiction books. His books encourage children to enjoy the world around them through learning and discovery, and by making science fun. He has introduced tens of millions of children to a staggering array of subjects; one prominent science education specialist described Simon's books as "extraordinary examples of expository prose."

Seymour Simon has been honored with many awards for his work, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Lifetime Achievement Award for his lasting contribution to children's science literature; the New York State Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature; the Hope S. Dean Memorial Award from the Boston Public Library for his contribution to children's science literature; The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Non-fiction; the Jeremiah Ludington Award for his outstanding contribution to children's nonfiction; the Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Forum on Children's Science Books.

In a recent interview Simon was asked if he ever thinks of retiring. "I seem to be working faster and harder than ever. I absolutely don't feel any urge to sit back and look at what I've done. The only things that I'm thinking about are things I'd like to do in the future. I'm planning and doing and continuing to write. It's what I love to do. I remember a story about an anthropologist going to talk to a tribe and he asked them what was their word for "work." Their response was they have no word for work. Everybody does the things that they do in their life. I love that response. I don't differentiate between work and play. Everything I do is something that I enjoy doing - the writing, the research and everything else."

Seymour Simon writes and photographs nature from his hilltop home in Columbia County in upstate New York, where he lives with his wife Liz Nealon.

You can follow Seymour on Facebook and on Twitter, as well as on his website, which offers free, downloadable Teacher Guides to his books for educators, parents and homeschoolers, as well as the popular Seymour Science Daily Blo

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completely and utterly only presenting and featuring snakes (their physiologies, their lives and also the ecological roles serpents play, and with Seymour Simon’s text delightfully and aesthetically mirrored and expanded on by colourfully descriptive accompanying photographs ), yes, I am definitely textually quite majorly impressed with the information the author presents to his young readers in his 1992 Snakes and in particular with how Seymour Simon more than once and very much adamantly points out that snakes generally face far more threats and dangers from humans then we ever do from snakes (and that the majority of serpents, even the poisonous ones, actually tend to actively try to avoid contact with humans), that a world without snakes would probably also mean huge rodent infestations and indeed that the only continent which actually has more poisonous than non poisonous snakes is in fact Australia. And I also do totally appreciate how Seymour Simon equally manages to narrationally present an enlightening and informative introduction to snakes without ever losing sight of his intended audience (children from about the age of seven to ten or eleven), without making his text presented text overwhelming or confusing (by keeping his sentences descriptive but sufficiently short and in particular limiting in Snakes the appearance of biology, zoology specific jargon, which can become a reading comprehension obstacle).

But as much as I have textually enjoyed Snakes and do recommend Seymour Simon’s text as a very decent, engagingly penned and enlightening introduction, I still will only be able to consider a three star rating. For one and very much a humongous faux pas for me, that there are no source acknowledgments in Snakes, that Seymour Simon has not included any bibliographic material whatsoever is supremely frustrating and at least to and for me personally both academically dishonest and pretty much absolutely unacceptable for non fiction. And for two, I also wish that Snakes would include a section on snake evolution, since I for one do consider how today’s snakes have changed over millions of years as important and as necessary to know about as what today’s serpents look like and how they live (and I am in fact more than a bit flabbergasted that in Snakes author Seymour Simon actually not even once points out and writes information and details regarding the biological history of snakes, that there is nothing textually presented about how serpents have evolved through millions of years and how this compares to what snakes are like now, how present day serpents compare and also of course contrast to their ancestors).

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the text of this book is best for grade 4+ it is popular with all ages at our library. The full-page color photos show different snakes close up, which is part of the appeal.

This is written more as an essay than chopped up nonfiction text. There aren't headings and diagrams; instead, strong topic sentences and connected details lead us through the information. This would make an excellent text for teaching about main idea and practicing with finding main idea in paragraphs.

[Jc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pictures. Many of the young boys thought this book was sooooo cool while the little girls were not going to get close to the book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice supplemental resource for children interested in specific animals.

Q2021 book.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book and I enjoyed it very much. The photos of each snake were such good quality, and I loved getting to see all of the cool snakes!

[Nicholas]

“There are about twenty-nine hundred different kinds of snakes in the world.”(Simon, 1) The informative book “Snakes” gives a wide perspective of different kinds of snakes by the inspiring author Seymour Simon. First, the reader learns how many snakes in the world. “There are about twenty-nine hundred different kinds of snakes in the world.”(Simon, 5) The audience learns about different kinds of snakes and how they move. Second, snakes can move without any legs due to the fact that snakes have more bones in their backs which allows them to glide on the ground. In addition, the audience learns a lot about snakes and how they live. For instance, the audience learns that snakes don’t have a slimy body, but has a hard and smooth body surface. Third, snakes have to use their senses to help the find their prey and to avoid hazardous animals. The senses a snake has to use includes sense of smell, hearing, and sight to catch their prey. Additionally, a snake can eat an animal twice its size!!! In conclusion, the informative book “Snakes” helps the reader understand more about them.

After I had read this book I had a few questions in my head:
List 5 facts you learned from this book
-There are approximately twenty-nine hundred different types of snakes.
-Only a few kinds of snakes are actually poisonous
-Snakes have hard and smooth skin
-Snakes can eat animals twice their size.
-More than 3 quarters are harmless
Do you think your friends will be interested in reading this book? Why, or why not?
I don’t think that my friends will be interested in the topic of snakes because I think that they won’t find snakes interesting.
What questions do you still have about this topic?
Why did you want to write a book about snakes? Would you write about something else next time?
In conclusion, these questions helped me understand the book “Snakes” even better.

I would recommend this book to only Lower School for many reasons. First, the words are really easy to understand. In addition, I don’t think that kids who are older will be interested in the topic of snakes unless that person likes animals. Second, this book is small and has too many pictures that takes up a lot of space. Third, I don’t think that this book had enough information to write a book share for 6th grade. Thus, I would only recommend this book to Lower School.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes glossary, no recommended reads or descriptive chapter titles (no chapters at all). Still, a great foundation title.

[Tichina Fung-chung]

Snakes is non-fictional book all about snakes! The photos are very cool and the book offers some interesting facts about snakes. This would be a great book to have in your classroom library for student to read independently, especially if your studying reptiles.

[Michael B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book was aswome . I learned how to tell the difrens bettwen a venemes and a nonvenemes it is cool .I have saved a snake that is haram lise . I also learned how to keach a snake with my baer hands. I also learnd how to yous a snake tool to is okay.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, informational book about the different types of snakes. The books explains their diets, some behaviors, where they are found in the world and the fact that only a small percentage of snakes are poisonous.

[Cws]

J597.96-Sim

[Najae · Rating 2 out of 5]

very informatinal i hate snakes so i rated it ok (infinses on ok)

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

very informational

[Eric Bengtson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent full page photos across full page paragraph text with no formatting or chapters. Good text, interesting. Own. Keep?

[Karen Probus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing photographs. Detailed information

[Rani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to #snakes, not less scary in any case.

[571 · Rating 3 out of 5]

yea

[Kittipitt]

I think is everything about snakes.